Star Struck
by Kaen
Summary: Shuichi is sick and needs to be cared for over the course a few days. Will Yuki accept this responsibility and hazard of being with Shuichi for so long? (Bad summary, sorry!)
1. 1: Concert

Star Struck 

Chapter 1: Concert

By Kaen

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_Doko ni mo tomaranai mitasanai Emotion SHIKATO kimete oikose yo…_

The words sprung forth from his mouth with a confidence born of countless hours rehearsing. He remembered the first day that the lyrics ever came to mind, where he had scribbled them down furiously on the back of a receipt with a dying pen. When he was satisfied with the words, the relatively small paper was punctured at several places and carried dirt smears that came from rubbing against the filthy surface of the phone booth. It was a rather sorry sight to see, but it was then that Shuichi finally felt some sort of awe towards the lyrics that he himself had composed. That was nearly two years ago, and since that first time that he had hummed that melody, the song had become the center of his existence, repeated over and over again in his life. It was his second name in the eyes of the fans: "The guy who sings "Rage Beat", the vocalist of Bad Luck". He responded to it almost as well as "baka". 

A broader smile tugged at his lips as he burst into the chorus once more, sending as much of his energy to every single one of the fans in the audience as possible. His efforts were rewarded when he glanced up and saw the thousands of smiling faces in the crowd, some with their arms raised and swaying to the music, others singing along, some just grinning and enjoying themselves. The sheer amount of positive energy in the large concert hall was nearly overwhelming, rallying from every crammed aisle and corner. The song led into Hiro's guitar solo, so Shuichi stepped away from the microphone and swayed along to the fast beat. The speakers were blaring Fujisaki's synthesized rhythm, which made Shuichi a bit dizzy when he stepped to near to them. He scooted away as gracefully as possible, still smiling in order to better cover his folly. Regaining his bearings, Shuichi realized that he only had a few more seconds to get back in the spotlight and stepped again into center stage. 

The lights were flashing all different colors, creating a fascinating yet slightly disorienting pattern. Pink, green, yellow, green, blue, purple, flash… Shuichi noticed the sequence speeding up as they approached the end of the song. 'It's good,' he thought, 'The stage lighting was starting to make him really, really warm and those lights were so dizzying.

"Shine seikai no nuke-michi o neratte tadoritsuku basho e I Want New World!"

'Good, just a few most seconds and then the songs over. No, don't look at the lights. Oh god, it's so hot. I fell kind of sick…'

As if answered by the god he wasn't sure he believed in, the song broke off into its last riff where it was drowned out by the cheering of the crowd. It started as a small disturbance in the ocean of people, soon gathering more voices and crashing upon the stage like a tidal wave. Shuichi raised in arm in thanks, waving to the crowd. He smiled, although it was a bit strained. He felt himself lose his bearings for a brief second, quickly taking a step forward to counter the effect. He grabbed the microphone stand with his free arm, using it as a support as the crowd's voice began to fade into a dulling roar in his mind. He blinked to clear his vision when he lost sight of the individuals in the crowd, them instead becoming a multitude of colored blurs. 

Shuichi felt a strong hand clamp of his shoulder. "You did well tonight, Shuichi-kun!" Hiro complimented him, also waving to the crowd.

Shuichi blinked rapidly again.

"Yeah, thanks…" he trailed off, intending to say more, but promptly forgetting what as the throbbing in his head manifested itself.

"Shuichi, you okay? You look a little pale." Hiro commented concernedly as he lowered his guitar to the stand nearby.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just… tired." 

He continued smiling at the crowd, even when it felt like his mind had lost connection with his body. Sensing his friend's situation, Hiro kindly decided to take up the good night, thank you, etc. message that Shuichi usually said. Shuichi in turn simply said "thank you" and proceeded to exit off the stage behind Hiro. Suddenly, another wave of applause and cheering came from the crowd. 

"Encore! Encore!" they cried in somewhat awkward English. 

The pink-haired vocalist of Bad Luck turned around to face the audience, an action that resulted in yet another cheer. There weren't too many songs left to perform. "Rage Beat" was always their climax song since it was still their most famous, but they had also performed "Seven Days", "In the Moonlight", "Spicy Marmalade", "Glaring Dream", and even "No style", which was on an album yet to be released by NG. 

"Easy Action?'" Fujisaki suggested, screaming over the crowd in order to be heard. 

Hiro nodded in approval, lifting his guitar strap around his neck and once again taking his place on the stage. Shuichi remembered vaguely nodding and dragging himself up to the mic again.

'Focus, I know this song! It may be new, but I know we can do it!' Shuichi smiled to himself as he imagined Sakano freaking out over the band's choice, directly next to K, who was most likely smiling smugly. Shuichi closed his eyes, focusing his mind on the first couple seconds of the songs before he came in. Funny, he never realized how fast his band's music was. This was the first time he had trouble keeping up with and remembering the lyrics, but he chalked it up to the effects of the long concert. Despite this reassurance, the boy couldn't suppress the sigh of relief that occurred when Suguru's piano solo took over for the moment. It gave him just enough time to catch his breath before coming back in and ending the song on a strong note. 

If he hadn't felt detached from reality before, he was certainly feeling so now. His body felt like it was simply floating along and his feet were not making any contact with the ground. He said his final good-byes now that the crowd finally seemed content with their performance, wincing slightly as their volume increased and intensified his headache. They continued cheering as the three band members began to file of the stage, Hiro first, Shuichi second, and Suguru third, since he had received quite an applause for his solo in last song. He took a final curt bow before the audience, which Shuichi turned to see and… was the last thing he remembered. 

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So… that was kind of plotless, ne? Oh well, it'll get good soon. I always hate writing the beginnings of storied because I can never get to the part I started writing it for in the first place. I promise it will get more interesting! No more concert crap, I swear! Eh, I just realized that I listened to the entire song of "Love Stuff", which I do **not like. Oh well, pity me and please review! I promise to get the next chapter out soon if I get any positive commentary at all! Thanks for reading!**

-Kaen *^^*


	2. 2: Always to get there

Star Struck

Chapter 2: Always to get there

By Kaen

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Thunder crashed in the night, rolling over the urban hills as a warning of the storm to come. Rain began to fall lightly on the city below, though there were some that paid the storm no heed…

The sounds of typing filled the large apartment, masking whatever silence had been missed by the television's constant blare.  Words and songs, music and cheers, had all faded to a dull roar in the back of the author's mind as he sat in the dark office typing. He fingers danced across the keyboard at a very steady beat, never faltering or pausing in their pattern. After a minute, one hand left the keyboard to reach for the beer that sat to the left of the laptop. Long fingers wrapped around the cylinder and raised it only an inch or two before realizing that it was empty.  Finally, the fingers on the other hand stopped typing and the author stood, pushing his chair back with his legs in doing so.  He crushed the empty can with one hand and tossed it into the waste basket alongside the desk before stretching a little and making his way out of the office. 

He walked by the television without so much as a glance to the large screen and headed straight for the kitchen, where he extracted an unopened can of liqueur from the refrigerator. He made a path back to the office, but, this time, did look at the animated box. The images on the screen caused him to halt in his tracks and he stood there, looking down at the television with a beer in hand. Before he even realized it, Yuki Eiri had taken a seat on the couch and was watching the broadcasted concert with way more attention than he'd like to admit. But no one was there to see him, so he figured it was all right. He lit a cigarette and leaned back against the sofa as lightning flashed, illuminating the otherwise dark room for a second, and the thunder roared soon afterward. 

Images of Shuichi and the band flashed across the huge screen and then to the cheering crowd, but mostly the camera stayed focused on Shuichi. He was pouring his soul out to that crowd and they apparently received it well, as the crowd was all smiles. The song ended then, the crowd cheered even louder, and there was his baka, smiling and waving. Hiroshi appeared on the screen and said the 'good night' for Shuichi, which Yuki raised a brow at. Shuichi was usually way too obnoxious to let someone do what he considered to be 'his job', and no matter how Yuki would've loved to deny it, he was concerned. He sat forward, propping his elbows on his knees as he watched the television, occasionally bringing the cigarette to his lips. The storm was growing more intense outside, lightning now flashing every couple seconds in bright dangerous streaks, but it went unnoticed by the author. 

The crowd kept on cheering even after Hiroshi was done speaking and Shuichi shouted something to his band-mates. Within a couple seconds, they began another painfully fast song that it looked like the vocalist was almost having trouble keeping up with. The camera zoomed in on Tohma's cousin for his solo and Yuki glowered at the television, waiting for it to go back to Shuichi. It finally did and Yuki was almost content when a loud boom of thunder sounder almost directly overhead and the power went out. 

He now glowered at anything the cigarette he was holding would illuminate. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Just that? Are you sure?" Hiro asks the doctor. 

Just minutes ago, Hiro had found himself carrying his best friend off-stage, much to their fans' and managers' distress. He had placed him gently on a couch and just seconds later a medic had arrived. After about a minute of prodding a temperature-taking, he made his diagnosis.

"Well, we can't be completely sure without formal tests, but I'm fairly sure, yes. I'd definitely recommend getting him to the hospital, though," the middle-aged doctor answered, still resting a hand on Shuichi's forehead.

Hiro nodded and then sighed as he looked down to his friend, whom appeared to sleep soundly on the rather cheap sofa. He knew it wasn't a natural sleep, though, for surely the bothersome reporters and shouts from the crowd would have awoken him, despite Shuichi being a heavy sleeper. It worried him, but he knew enough to stay calm (even as Sakano transformed into the human tornado). K shoved through the crowd of reporters and stood before Hiro with keys in hand while looking at Shuichi. 

"So, we going or not?" he asked in a manner that obviously meant 'we're going now if you value your life.'

Hiro nodded and lifted Shuichi into his arms again, opting to let K lead the way to the back door of the studio. K held open the door as Hiro carried Shuichi out and gently lowered him into the car and was reaching across him to put his seatbelt on when Shuichi stirred a little.

"Hn…?"  he sounded wearily, blinking open dazed violet eyes. 

Hiro's eyes widened.

"Shuichi? Are you all right? How are you feeling?" he asked quickly, noting the feverish stain on Shuichi's cheeks.

The singer groaned and answered quietly after a second, "Like I've been hit bit something large that was moving very quickly." He looked up to Hiro and blinked innocently. "Have I been?"

Hiro laughed and swept a few strands of pink hair away from Shuichi's eyes.

"Well, you did hit the stage, but at least you're feeling well enough to tell me that much," he replies, letting his hand linger on his friend's bow a bit longer than what would be necessary to sweep the locks away. He frowned a little and gave the okay sign to K as the man slid into the car and noticed that Shuichi was conscious. Hiro looked back down to Shuichi, not giving him any time to answer for himself.

"You're still burning up, though. K and I are taking you to the hospital," Hiro told Shuichi, leaving no room for protest. He then turned his face away from Shuichi and was already prepared to ignore his whining about the situation, but surprisingly, it didn't come.  He looked down and felt a pang of sympathy for his friend, who was just looking at the floor of the car silently. He sighed and reached out to touch Shuichi's cheek gently.

"Don't worry about it, ne?" Hiro told Shuichi, forcing a comforting grin.

Shuichi just nodded in response.

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The sound if Eiri's cell phone's shrill ring shattered the silence of the dark apartment. It rang once, twice, three times… and he made no effort to pick it up. Two more rings, and still no response. The phone rang one last time and then stopped.

All was silent again. 

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I'm truly very sorry this chapter was so short! I've had the most terrible writer's block, but I know that's no excuse. I will try to make up for length in the next chapter.  Thank you for reading and please review!


	3. 3: Home, Cold Home

Star Struck

Chapter 3: Home, Cold Home

By Kaen

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Their arrival at the hospital was nothing remarkable. There were no sirens, not doctors' alerts, not even the vicious mob of reporters that they had left behind at the concert hall. Just a small car that pulled up to the emergency room drop off zone and stopped. Two tall men stepped out of the car and one turned to help another out; a shorter man by far. Shuichi sighed and allowed himself to be lifted out of the car and seemed a bit reluctant to even stand on his own two feet. 

"I really don't think this is necessary…" the pink-haired vocalist muttered as he gripped tightly onto Hiro's arm to stay standing. 

Hiro shook his head and just grabbed onto one of Shuichi's arms with the hand from the arm that wasn't being latched on to.  

"Idiot. You can barely stand," Hiro grumbled, yanking Shuichi up again in an effort to get him to at least make an effort to support himself. 

Shuichi groaned and reluctantly complied by placing both feet steadily on the ground. He figured he was just exhausted from the long and intense concert, and would have liked nothing better than to be sleeping in Yuki's bed at this moment. He frowned a little suddenly, recalling when K had tried to contact Yuki on his cell. The home number hadn't gone through and Yuki hadn't answered his cell phone, which made everyone (even Hiroshi), a bit nervous. Shuichi blinked blearily at the bright fluorescent lights that greeted them the second they stepped into the hospital. Surprisingly enough, the waiting room was empty and K just walked up to the counter to tell the attending nurse the problem as Hiro guided Shuichi into a chair. 

The next few minutes were a surreal blur of consciousness and sleep, but Shuichi was nudged by Hiro to wake him up. He had been resting his head on his friend's shoulder apparently. He sighed and blinked groggily, his eyes focusing on Hiro's concerned face.

"Hey, they'll se you now," Hiro told Shuichi, standing up and offering a hand down.

Shuichi sat, slumped in his chair, for a few seconds longer and then took his best friend's hand, helping in pulling himself up. The young nurse smiled gently as she waited in the doorway that led to the examination rooms. She held in her small hands a clipboard that held various documents with Shuichi's medical record and other notes as she held the door open for then,

"Please follow me," she said sweetly, brushing a few strands of brown hair that had fallen out of her clips into her eyes away.  

She led them to a small room and motioned for Shuichi to take a seat on the high padded table-thing, explaining that the doctor would be in soon. She set the clipboard down on the counter and excused herself. Evidently, she was not familiar with Bad Luck or the outcome of that brief encounter could have been more exciting. Shuichi sighed and zoned out by watching the seconds hand sweeping around the face of the clock, once, twice, three, four and then five times. It had gone around seven and a half times before the doctor slid into the room, pulling on a pair of latex gloves.

"So, what seems to be the problem?" the short middle-aged man asks, looking up to Shuichi, Hiro, and K. 

A frown was evident as he took in Shuichi's unusual garb and hair, but he said nothing as he awaited an answer. Hiro and Shuichi exchange glances as if wondering who should say what but Hiro saves them both from having to talk yet.

"Shuichi here," K motioned to the rather clueless/dazed-looking pink-haired one. "Has got a high fever and fainted about forty minutes ago. I'm sure you can note yourself that he revived himself."

The vocalist nodded a little at K's words while noting how the manager seemed even more to the point than usual. The doctors made one of those obnoxious "Hmmm…" noises and took a step closer to Shuichi, noting the flushed appearance of the young man's face. He ran through the typical procedures of checking blood pressure, heartbeat, breathing... Shuichi tensed when the cold stethoscope was pressed to his back and coughed a little before he could manage even one deep breath. The doctor just seemed to nod apathetically, holding the cold instrument to Shuichi's back the whole time. The vocalist's shirt had been rolled up at some point, revealing pale skin harshly illuminated by the fluorescent lights. 

The auriscope was removed from it mounted position on the wall and received a new cap while Shuichi nervously tugged his shirt back down. The doctor went about his business and checked one ear-the right one- which was fine. He 'hmmed' again and moved to the other ear, where his mask of indifference morphed into one of surprise for an instant. He removed the auriscope and set it aside on a counter before asking Shuichi if he would please stand.

"Stand?"  Shuichi blinked but obliged.

 He couldn't help but find the request to be strange, though, and most out of place in the situation. He hopped off the table onto the floor, but soon found himself grappling for anything to steady himself with. Slightly trembling hands found the corner of the counter as Hiro's arms encircled his waist in support.

"Shuichi? You all right?" Hiro asked. 

His voice was calm even as he was very alarmed. Shuichi leaned against Hiro and nodded a little, just taking a moment to stand on his own. Once the black spots vanished, the pink-haired boy found he could stand perfectly fine. The doctor's voice interrupted this resolution.

"Are your ears bothering you?" he asks, folding his arms over his chest. "I can't imagine that they aren't. Your left eardrum is quite swollen. It's a miracle it hasn't ruptured yet, actually. "

"My ear…?" Shuichi repeated hesitantly, resting a palm over his left ear. Just that change in pressure was enough to send a jolt of pain through it.  "Ow…"

The hands were pulled away quickly and Shuichi looked up to the doctor with wide, almost betrayed eyes. "So what's wrong?" he asked, skipping directly to the point.

The doctor just nodded as her scribbled down a few notes in that infamous illegible handwriting. "I'll need to get a swab on your throat, but I'd say strep is the culprit. It's kind of a rare condition that you have now, though."

"How so?" Hiro interjects for his friend in concern.

"There are well over eighty or so types of strep out there. I'm sure you've heard about the common symptoms. In your friend's case here, he seems to have a few extra afflictions. They're not serious if treated correctly, but they can be persistent," the doctors states, not looking up from his papers.

"How long can this last?" K asks, suddenly reinstating himself in the conversation. Considering he looked irritated by the information, it was most definitely a good thing that they had opted to leave Sakano behind with Fujisaki.

"By persistent, I meant the symptoms might go away, and then come back say… a week or so later. It's crucial to stay on the meds until they're completely gone. No more pills, no more serum left. Understand?" He was standing in front of Shuichi holding a cotton-tipped swab suddenly. "If you will…"

Shuichi sighed and opened his mouth wide (something he was quite used to doing, by the way) and stuck out his tongue. The medic got a quick sample and pulled away, placing the instrument in a designated bag. He picked up the clipboard as well and headed for the door to the small room.

"I'll be back in about ten minutes with the results. Please, take a seat," he gestured to the single chair along the wall and the examination bench in one sweep of the arm, and was then gone.

Hiro helped Shuichi back up to sit on the table and his eyes then flickered up to K's. He was eyeing the chair, though trying to hide it.

"I'll stand," Hiroshi said, smiling a little.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As it came to pass, Shuichi did indeed have some obscure case of strep. The doctor had been quite amazed to hear that Shuichi was a singer, though not really because of his fame. It seemed that the illness usually attacked the throat first, making it very impossible for the victim's voice to be anything more than a whisper. The obvious explanation for the initial dizziness was the acute unbalance of fluids within the bright-haired boy's ears, which was further offset by the booming speakers. It was truly a miracle that his eardrum did not rupture at that point, another fact that captivated the prompt doctor. 

As for now, Hiro was helping his best friend into the elevator at Yuki's apartment complex after having visited the pharmacy to pick up the prescribed medication. He was to take two pills a day, once in the morning and once at night, in supplement to a precarious-tasting pinkish-red syrup. Of course, Hiro was confident that Yuki would attend to all of Shuichi's needs… The very thought made him roll his eyes, but his friend had insisted on going home. Even now, Shuichi looked quite a bit worse for wear. His cheeks were tinted a feverish red, while the rest skin of his body paled in comparison. His hair was a mess of dampened locks that hung haphazardly in his eyes, but he made no effort to brush them away. The elevator arrived on the appropriate level and Hiro helped Shuichi out of the contraption down the hall, keeping an arm around his waist supportively. 

"You sure you don't want to just crash at my place?" Hiro asked as Shuichi punched in the key code slowly. It apparently took a great deal of concentration. 

"Yeah… I just need to get some sleep. I'm exhausted. Come morning, I think I'll be able to take care of myself," Shuichi reassured him before turning the handle of the heavy door. Funny thing how Yuki was never mentioned in this ideal solution.

Shuichi motioned for Hiro to keep quiet, as the sight that greeted there eyes was pitch darkness. The shorter of the two stepped inside and leaned against the door a little. Hiro just shook his head and handed him the paper bag with his meds with a soft sigh.

"You're sure?" he whispered, his eyes looking past Shuichi into the still room. He still really was not comforted by anything that was happening.

"Yes… I'll be fine," Shuichi flashed a bright smile, though it looked a bit forced. "I'll be fine, okay?" He looked about ready to close the door when something else occurred to him. "Ne, Hiro?"

"Yeah?" he looked over his shoulder, having already taken the first few steps down the hall to go back to K and the car.

"Thanks for being such a good friend. I'll keep you posted, okay?" Shuichi said sincerely.

"Sure thing. Just take care of yourself… get Yuki to help if you have to. Now, so long," Hiro returned just before the elevator doors slid closed.

He was actually a bit worried that his concern for Shuichi would get the best of him and he would get into an argument with his friend over his (less than intelligent, in his opinion) decision. Best to just leave. It's not like anything bad cold happen, right? Hiro sighed and watched the illuminated numbers sink lower and lower on the panel, moving away from his best friend, one story at a time. 

Shuichi closed the door to the apartment and leaned against it for a moment while briefly reminiscing about the time he'd known Hiro. Shaking his head, he smiled a little and decided that sleep would be better than idle thought at the moment. He deposited the brown paper bag on the kitchen table on the way to the living room and was more than prepared to crash on the sofa, but was surprised to see his 'bed' already occupied. The TV was silently fizzing it's default black and white pattern, signifying that the cable company must be having some sort of problem. Shuichi did not even notice as he gently swept a few strand of ash-blonde hair away from Yuki's peaceful face. 

The vocalist stifled a cough then as to not disturb his lover's slumber and pulled his own blanket over the man. With that, he headed into Yuki's bedroom alone, thinking it would be best to not be too close to the other man until he was sure he wasn't contagious. If he was, he seriously pitied Hiro. That thought was lost, however, as Shuichi all but collapsed onto the bed.

He was asleep before his body even impacted the soft surface, and he would remain in that awkward position, unperturbed, until morning. 

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All right! Third chapter's done! I've been really trying to get into a better writing schedule, and I think its working (to an extent). I'm sorry if this chapter was boring… It is really kind of hard to write about a profession which I am obviously not. I did put a lot of effort into making this chapter flow smoothly, though, so if you read it, please review! They encourage me very much and help me put out work faster. 

-Kaen *^^*


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